How to keep the kids entertained at home? 50 tips you need to read!
How to keep the kids entertained at home? 50 tips you need to read!
So the kids are home and off school for a while and you’re completely out of ideas on how to keep them busy. Well, you need not worry, as we have plenty of top tips and tricks for keeping the kids busy, giving you time to get on with work or simply enjoy some downtime and TLC for yourself.
1. A daily schedule that the kids can tick off as they go! - Because everyone loves a ticket list! There are some great examples online of how to plan the day well, such as the one below.
2. A To-Do list - Ask your kids to make a ‘to do’ list of activities they enjoy, because who knows, they may have thought of something you haven’t!
3. A Treasure hunt - In the spirit of spring and Easter, a treasure hunt of random objects is likely to keep the little ones excited and occupied!
4. Making a den! - As easy as it sounds, challenging the kids to make a den can actually take up quite a few hours in the day.
5. Following on from that - If they happen to find all of the treasure in record time, move the treasure hunt to outside the house in the garden. This will also give them some fresh air and a way to let out some of their energy.
6. Secret missions - This can honestly involve anything! It could be to read a certain book and find the hidden message (one that you placed on the second to last page earlier on in the day)!8. Following on from Baking - A Bake-off between siblings could work well, as double the number of treats and a way to keeps them busy for longer!
7. Have a garden? - Set up an agility course. This works great with more than one child as they can work in teams or against each other in a mini Olympics!
8. Baking! - You can never have enough cookies and cakes to eat. Especially when the kids can decorate them however they want!
9. Hide and Seek - For social distancing, playing hide and seek in the little nooks and corners of the house as it is a great way to encourage the kids to keep moving but to stay distant at the same time.
10. Gardening - Got a few plants to pot or weeds to pull out? Gets the kids involved! Who knows, you could have the next Alan Titchmarsh on your hands.
11. Make a comic book - Getting the kids to express their creative side through a story designed and produced all on their own.
12. Take up origami - Fancy a challenge? A quick YouTube tutorial and a lot of paper and before you know it, the kids will be folding paper into swans!
13. Patience - Ironic as it seems, this card game is actually a great way to challenge yourself and also keeps the kids too.
14. Board games - Even though phone apps are the new ‘board game’ nothing will ever beat the rush of excitement you get while playing a game of ‘Guess Who’!
15. Make your own Monopoly - Not many people have unlimited board games lying around, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still play one. Look up the rules on the internet and make your own Monopoly. You can even model it on your city with your street and house in it!
16. Camping - It’s spring! Why not make an adventure out of being at home and camp outside for a night or two for a little adventure with the kids.
17. Puzzles - We can all remember that time we couldn’t complete a jigsaw puzzle. Which means now is the perfect time to try again, this time getting the kids involved too!
18. Outside drawing - With a few chalk pieces (that can wash off!) a few hours will disappear as the kids can draw on the walls outside as much as they want while getting some fresh air too.
19. Rock animals - Rock hunting through the garden is just half the fun. Next, you can take them inside and turn them into all sorts of animals, starting a collection for the kids’ rock zoo!
20. Making jewellery - A simple but effective way to keep the kids busy but also enjoy and wear what they create.
21. Make some jam! - Cooking and baking are simple activities to do with the kids, but making jam is a whole new ballgame that might just surprise the kids…
22. Take up photography - Encourage the kids to take up a hobby which might be photography. They can even start their own portfolio of work.
23. Ready Steady Cook - Buy 5 to 6 ingredients and see what grand invention you can come up with!
24. Fashion show - Putting on a fashion show for the family
25. Make a play - Why not create a play? You can either make one yourself or find one on the internet for the kids to learn.
26. Charades - As one of the games that still has everyone confused from Christmas, why not do it all over again, but a kid’s edition!
27. Home garden - With so much time at home, growing and caring for some little plants is a great way to encourage the kids to stay positive! Take progress shots too so you can see how much the flowers have grown.
28. Arts and crafts table - Keeping the glue and glitter contained to one table will make it easy to clean up but the kids can still go crazy beforehand!
29. Egg painting - As old traditions go, painting eggs for Easter is at the top of the list. Get a head start and get the kids to paint to their heart’s content.
30. Cleaning - Boring as it may sound for the kids, it’s an easy activity to turn into a game and get them excited about the tasks - it also helps you out a little bit!
31. Paint a mug - With many sets you can buy online, it’s another great way to let your kids have fun and release their inner artist.
32. A domino line - Ever seen those videos of huge domino effects from one room to another? What better time to try one than now…
33. Water fight - As the days heat up and the kids want to get active; there is nothing better than a water fight!
34. Indoor bowling - After a while, there are bound to be some empty bottles lying around the house, so why not use them as bowling ball pins?
35. Dots and boxes - The simple game that can test your brain power against your children…
36. Box city - Flatten boxes and build cars, houses and a city out of them for the kids to make their own world.
37. The Sticky Game - Hide post-it notes around the house with hidden letters and numbers on, so when they come into the kitchen the original number or sentence is there and they have to figure out what it says or what the correct sum is!
38. DIY Lava Lamp - With some household objects and a method from online before you know it, the lava lamp is made!
39. Paper aeroplanes - having paper aeroplane races is a great way to get the kids moving. Whether they’re inside or outside, it’s fun for all ages.
40. A home cinema - With the popcorn and everything! Let the children set it up and even get them to surprise you with which movie they’ve picked!
41. Flower pots - As much as painting is a theme in this blog, it really is a great way to busy the kids, so why not paint a flower pot that you can grow your home garden in?
42. Under the sea themed decorations - Download some DIY handbooks from online and turn one of the rooms in the house into an underwater hideout, full of fantastic sea life.
43. How good is your aim? - Take a large cardboard box and cut random sized circles out of it giving them all different point scores (like 10, 20, 50), then see who can get the most paper balls through them out of 5 turns. You can do this as a daily competition and use it in your mini Olympics.
44. Make a magazine - From holiday destinations to the latest family gossip! Why not let the children create and design their own magazine; you can even send them out to different family members.
45. Make pizza - Meal prep and a game all in one? What could be better! It’s all a question of how many topping can you fit on your pizza?
46. A giant Lego piece - How many Lego pieces can you work on in the day? Lego is an easy fix for lack of inspiration, especially if you happen to have a lot for it.
47. Explore science - There are plenty of great online home science recipes you can try. All recipes tend to include things you already have at home!
48. Table Ping Pong - With bats at the ready, you can set up a net of the kitchen table and let the kids have a mini tournament.
49. Mini golf course - Inside or outside, why not turn your home into a golf course for the day? You can even see how crazy you can make the holes for the kids!
50. Educational apps - As important as it is to limit the children's' screen time, there are many educational apps out there to help keep their brains thinking (and it doesn't hurt that it's also a good distraction)!
While it’s great to have so much to do for the kids, it’s also important to take care of your own health and well-being, so be sure to take a well-deserved break. For more tips and update content from us, you can check out our social media links below.
